New Facility Rental Discount Policy
City of Waterloo Council recently approved a new Facility Rental Discount (FRD) Policy. Some of the highlights include:
· 50% reduced rental rate for:
– Sports
– Neighbourhoods (new)
– Arts & Culture (new)
· Applies to programs for:
– Youth (18 and under)
– Older adults (55 and older)
– People with disabilities (new)
– Neighbourhood family events (new)
· Facility rentals for sport programs must be for programs intended for youth, older adults and people with disabilities, as defined by provincial standards (new)
· Equipment rental costs are applied according to the current Fees & Charges Bylaw (new)
· Facility rental requests for large scale and/or infrequent events (such as National or International Tournaments) may be referred to the CCRS Directors Team to be booked and negotiated under a Special Event Agreement. FRD may or may not apply (new)
· Recognition of in-kind support should occur through use of the City of Waterloo’s logo on affiliated organization’s marketing materials, alongside traditional sponsors (new)
The changes indicated as “new” above come into effect on October 1, 2012.
Living with Coyotes
The following are a few tips on how to co-exist with the urban coyote:
- Don’t feed coyotes or any other wild animals. When wild animals are fed, they not only lose their natural fear of humans but often lose their ability to locate and their interest in natural food sources that are an important part of their diet and keep them healthy. In the case where a “problem” animal needs to be removed, it is usually because they have become accustomed to being fed by people and are causing a problem. It only takes one person to cause a problem for an entire neighbourhood.
- Garbage should be stored in sealed containers and placed at the curb on the day of garbage pick-up.
- When outdoors always keep your dog with you on a leash and under control. Domestic dogs are a threat to a coyote, and some smaller dogs and cats are the same size as a coyote’s regular food.
- If you do encounter a coyote, remain calm and slowly back away while giving the animal enough space to move on.
- For more information see Living with Coyotes
The Green Bin Program
The green bin program, offers the single largest potential to divert household waste. With approximately 40 per cent of household waste being organic, residents’ ability to reduce and reuse is greatly increased by using the green bin! For more information, view the Green Bin Brochure.
Where to pick up a green bin: Waterloo waste management site, 925 Erb St. W., Gate 1, Admin building AND Cambridge waste management site, end of Savage Ave., Admin building. Hours: 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Tips for Garbage Day
The collection crews do their best to collect the material on windy days. The following tips on a windy day may help.
- don’t put out a garbage can, use a plastic bag
- fill the garbage bag with a mix of waste so there is some weight to it, but keep it under 50 lbs
- keep your recycling and put it out on a week that isn’t windy
- if you do put out your blue box, follow the preparation in the green pages of the phone book. Bags of newsprint can be put on top of loose containers to reduce the chance of them blowing out.
- if you do use garbage containers when windy, label them with your address
The installation of garbage boxes on each street is not something they are considering at this time.
Check out the 2012 Schedule for the Yard waste collection beginning last week of March!
Neighbourhood Safety
There have been a series of incidents recently that warrant some concern for our neighbourhood. We applaud those folks who took the time to file police reports and share the information about the incidents to the rest of our community.
At the June 2009 Safety Meeting, representatives from both Neighbourhood Watch and the Waterloo Regional Police were present to discuss the problems and some possible solutions. It appears from all who attended that we are on the right track in terms of caring about what happens in our neighbourhood and having meetings to talk about possible solutions.
For more information on the Block Parent program, check out the Block Parent Brochure.
For more information on the Neighbourhood Watch, check out the Neighbourhood Watch Brochure.
Here are some additional documents: Home Security Self Audit (1MB), Your Guide to Calling Police (7MB), Crime Stoppers Info (1MB), and Crime Stoppers Wallet-sized.
How to use a Roundabout
Important Roundabout Rules:
- Slow down
- Choose the correct entry lane
- Yield to pedestrians at the crosswalk
- Yield to ALL traffic in the roundabout, including cyclists
- Give large vehicles extra space
- Never pass another vehicle in the roundabout
For more information click here.
By-law Enforcement
The main number to call to report by-law infractions is 519.747.8785.
The top 5 by-law infractions are:
Parking: On the street, on the lawn, in the front yard, etc.
“No Parking” signs have gone up on Zermatt Drive and Karlsfeld Road, on the side of the street where the street lights are installed. The signs went up on Friday, Oct. 5th, and already folks are getting ticketed for parking in these areas, to the tune of $30. Please be aware when parking on the street that you may/will get ticketed.
Lot Maintenance: Derelict vehicles in the driveway, unsealed garbage on the lot, lack of lawn maintenance,
etc. The City does conduct routine property checks and distributes fines where necessary.
Noise: Noise infractions can occur 24/7 and incidents should be reported to the Police at 519.653.7700. You can remain anonymous when reporting the incident, but please make sure you request an occurrence report number so you can follow-up later on. Keep this by-law in mind when you hear the builders installing roof shingles at 6am, or when they’re busy working on stat holidays.
Nuisance: Incidents can include the knocking over of garbage bins, public urination, going through people’s blue boxes, etc.
Garbage/Litter: The dumping of garbage on our paths and in our woodlots is illegal and when seen, should be reported immediately to the City via Leslie Roach at 519.747.8645. With respect to the garbage on housing construction sites, you can contact Rob Trotter at Development Services at 519.747.8752.
Pesticides
This is the first year for this by-law and as a result, only warnings are being given at this point. The by-law states that no pesticides, including Weed N Feed, etc., will be used/sprayed during the months of July and August. During the months when pesticides can be sprayed, a warning sign indicating pesticide use must be posted 24 hours prior to the area being sprayed.
Lawn signs are available at:
99 Regina Street, Waterloo
www.letscurbpesticides.ca (download)
Lawn Care companies can use their own signs
Dog Waste
Dog owners have a legal responsibility to clean up after their dogs and to dispose of the waste at home, not in the garbage cans in the parks. If you see someone breaking this law, there are two things you can do. You can call the Humane Society immediately at 519.745.5615 and they will do their best to come down and educate the offender. You can also call the By-law office to report the incident, but keep in mind that without specific information such as name and/or address of the offender, there won’t be much that By-law officials can do. Parks and trash cans will be cleaned by the City as per the park rotation schedule. Again, if you own a pet, do the right thing and properly clean up after your dog.
Water Restrictions
Due to reduced water pumping capacity, the Region of Waterloo’s Commissioner of Transportation and Environmental Services announced a Stage 2 Water Supply Emergency will be in effect from May 31 to September 30 each year.
As per by-law 03-025 and amendments, residents were restricted to once per week lawn watering between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.
If your address ends in:
0 or 1 your lawn watering day is Monday
2 or 3 your lawn watering day is Tuesday
4 or 5 your lawn watering day is Wednesday
6 or 7 your lawn watering day is Thursday
8 or 9 your lawn watering day is Friday
Please contact the Region at 519.575.4495 for more information.
Time Restrictions for ALL watering: 7:00 – 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 – 11:00 p.m.
Please be aware that the following amendments to the Stage 2 Outdoor Water Use By-law were approved by Regional Council on March 22, 2006.
- Residents are permitted to irrigate gardens, trees, shrubs and other outdoor plants on alternate days.
- Municipal addresses ending in even numbers are permitted to water gardens, etc. on even-numbered dates of the month and odd addresses may water gardens on odd-numbered dates within the time restrictions.
- The washing of cars with a controlled hose (with a shutoff valve attached) will be permitted on alternate days within the time restrictions.
- Topping-up of permanent residential pools is allowed on alternate days within the time restrictions.
- The rules regarding the watering of lawns will remain unchanged and will continue to be allowed only once per week on the current permitted day.
- Residents with new sod and seed must obtain a sign from the Region by calling 519-575-4495.
This sign entitles watering any time for the first 24 hours after planting, watering during the time
restrictions for each of the following six days and then watering during the time restrictions on
alternate days from day 8 through day 14 after planting.
Please contact the Region at 519.575.4495 for more information.
The Regional Waste Management Site on Erb Street is now collecting clothes for Goodwill.
They are calling it a Goodwill Donation Express Centre. This is great because the nearest Goodwill Drop-off Centre is located at Weber St.
For more information, visit the Region’s website here.
